TANZANIA's national U-19 men's cricket team is all out to intensively shape up for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier–Division 1, as the team will feature in the 2025 Uganda Tour–Easter Series in Kampala this week.

A Tanzania Cricket Association (TCA) officer revealed the squad had already jetted off to Uganda for the series, filled with excitement and high spirits.

Tanzania's U-19 men's cricket squad, coached by Imran Nackerdien and his assistant Rijali Fentu, is made up of Abdulrazak Mohamed, Acrey Pascal, Ally Hafidh, Agustino Mwamele, Ayaan Shariff, Azhaar Premji, and Dylan Manish.

Other cricketers are Darpan Jobanputra, Hamza Ally, Karim Kiseto, Khalid Amiri, Mohamed Imtiyaz, Mohamed Simba, Omary Koba, and Raymond Francis.

All of the series' encounters, the Uganda Cricket Association said in a statement, are scheduled to be held at Lugogo Cricket Oval.

Tanzania's U-19 cricketers, according to the TCA officer, were scheduled to open the tour later yesterday - facing hosts Uganda U-19.

The second game, slated for today, will witness the two sides face off at the same venue.

Tomorrow will witness the two sides getting a rest and the following day will be yet another match day, bringing together the two junior squads.

In the following two days, Uganda-A will come up against Tanzania's U-19 cricketers.

The tour would come to an end with Uganda U-19 playing against Tanzania U-19 on the next day.

The tour is a crucial step in Tanzania's U-19 cricketers' preparation for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier–Division 1, set to take place in Nigeria next month.

A special send-off was hosted by TCA Chairman Balakrishna Sreekumar, who joined the boys in a light-hearted moment before heading to Uganda.

The association's boss got the chance to share smiles with the junior cricketers and go as far as featuring in a fun game, termed 'Catch the Chocolate'.

The team, the TCA officer revealed, left on a positive note, ready to take on the challenge ahead.

The TCA officer noted the body wishes the young stars the best as they gear up for competitive matches before heading to Nigeria for the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier–Division 1.

With a mix of competitive matches and crucial training sessions, the TCA officer stressed, this tour is set to be an exciting test for the players.

According to the Uganda Cricket Association, the Easter Series will serve as a critical build-up for the young Cranes as they fine-tune their skills ahead of the continental showdown.

The tri-series, the association confirmed, will provide Uganda’s budding cricket stars with a platform to gain invaluable match experience, test different team combinations, and build momentum ahead of the high-stakes qualifiers.

Facing Tanzania's U-19, a formidable regional rival, and Uganda A, a squad comprising senior and emerging players, will offer the young team a chance to challenge themselves under competitive conditions.

Tanzania U-19 men’s national team beat the rest to the silverware in the ICC U-19 Men's Cricket World Cup Africa Division 2 Qualifier in Dar es Salaam in August last year.

The success helped Tanzania's junior cricketers gallantly book a place in the ICC U-19 World Cup Qualifier–Division 1.

The ICC U-19 Cricket World Cup Africa Qualifiers (formerly ICC Africa U-19 Championships) are a series of regular cricket tournaments organized by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for Under-19 teams from its African member nations.

It is the regional qualifier for the ICC Under-19 World Cup.

The initial tournament was staged in 2001 but did not return until 2007.

During the interim years, a joint competition with the East Asia-Pacific Cricket Council was held.

A second division was added in 2009 providing affiliate nations with a chance to participate.

After the first edition, two teams were promoted, but since then only one team has moved between divisions.

The two divisions are played at different times and in different locations.

The current champions are Namibia, who won the 2023 tournament in Tanzania to qualify for the 2024 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka.

Namibia have won seven titles, the most of any team, while Uganda have won twice. 

Other teams, Kenya and Nigeria, have lifted the continental showdown's top honour once apiece.